Between 1977 and 1996 (4 years after the respective intro dates for the new limits, when the recruiting impact of the new limits was fully reflected in senior classes), the following teams won their first-ever AP or UPI/Coaches’ Poll national championships:

Georgia - 1980
Clemson - 1981
Penn State -1982
Miami - 1983
BYU - 1984
Colorado - 1990
Georgia Tech - 1990
Washington - 1991
Florida State - 1993
Florida - 1996

(In addition, in 1976 Pittsburgh won its first natty since 1937, in 1997 Michigan shared its first since 1948, and in 1998 Tennessee won its first since 1951.)

Since Florida in 1996, no new school has won its first-ever national championship — during a period in which scholarship limits were unchanged. This after there were 10 new champions in the previous 17 years.

I believe the emergence of these new national champions and other new or resurgent powers during the late-‘70s through mid-‘90s was primarily a direct result of introducing scholarship limits and then reducing them to 85 in 1973-1992.

If we reduced scholarships again, I believe we would see a similar impact once again, with increased parity and more new programs rising to prominence.